Bad cinema

I had never heard of the film kids before watching it and so i didn't know what to expect. I must admit that i was shocked and surprised at the content. It's a very hard hitting, in your face film and i found myself putting my head in my hands a few times. The film centres around Telly who would only sleep with virgins so he would not have to use protection. this is a nieve assumption to make as people could be lying to him which reminds us that despite the adult things they are doing they are just kids. One of the most disturbing scenes was the rape scene where jenny, who is HIV positive, was raped by casper while passed out on the sofa after drinking to much alcohol. This is obviously a major shock tactic to ram the message home. I was interested as to where the kids parents were in this film because i'm sure i would know if my children were behaving like that. I think the film shows us that kids are capable of anything and are not just kids.

Tatoos and Body piercing

I found this lecture very very interesting. It helped that the lecturer felt passionate about what he was talking about which was evident. Tatooing and body piercing was our groups choice for our final piece of work. we decided to create a poster, the theme being first impressions. anybody who has exsessive tatoos or piercings is immediatley seen as being strange. people tend to make snap judgements based on their appearance. for all they know they could be a doctor, a lawyer or a policeman etc. people don't think that people who look like that can have a serious profession. some of the pictures i saw during the lecture were fairly shocking and would be to anyone who saw them, but i think this is only because we do not see people like this very often so we are not accustomed to seeing the extreme forms of body modification they partake in.

Joining a religious cult/Being too religious

This happens to be a subject on which i am fairly passionate. I am not religious myself in any way, and others being religious does not anger or offend me or have any effect on my life. The only way in which i think someone can be too religious is when they knock on people's doors in an attempt to force their beliefs on others. Also when you pass people in the street and they are lecturing the passers by on the glories of god and why they are going straight to hell for not believing. i find this incredibly intrusive and just a little bit disrespectful to others especially when some people already have their own religion and have people come to their home to 'poo-poo' their beliefs. If people wished to become Jewish, Christian or Muslim etc, they would take it upon themselves to learn more about the religion and then become a part of it. I think that nowadays, rather than a way of life, religion is used as a weapon around the world. for example, the bombings on the world trade centre. Other extremist groups kill innocent people and then claim that it was done for their god and their religion, when all they are doing is giving their religion a bad name and the people who follow it. I think that people hide behind religion sometimes and cults prey on people such as these. They lie to innocent and gullable people as young as 14, suck them in, and then use them to do the evil deeds they didn't have the guts to do themselves. leaders of these religious cults are generally rich as they live off the earnings of their gullable followers. More often than not, these people are icolated from everyone they love so their is no danger of them being persuaded to stop what they are doing. they are made to agree to this on fear of not only their own death, but the death of their family and friends. All for god's work, but i do not recall that any religion tells people to cause the pain and suffering of others for their own selfish desire.

Bandits and Outlaws

Jesse James was one of the worlds most legendary outlaws. He was born in missuri and was the son of a baptist minister. many people saw him as an american version of robin hood when in reality, he was a cold blooded murderer. rumour has it that it was the barbaric treatment he suffered at the hands of the union soldiers during the civil war that turned him to 'fight the system' through theft, dishonesty and murder. The robin hood image was given to him by a man called John Norman Edwards. he was a reporter for an american newspaper. his powerful and elaborate reporting made jesse into a symbol of rebel defiance. I do not understand how anyone can admire Jesse James who was reported to have shot at least fifteen people in cold blood before stealing from their dead bodies. this to me seems the actions of an evil individual, not a hero.

Robin Hood was famous for steeling from the rich to give to the poor.Like jesse james, he stole, but for the benefit of other people rather than himself. He too was rebelling against an unfair dictatorship headed by the sherrif of Nottingham. He though that the only way to rebel against this was to break the laws they set. He had been away fighting for his country in the crusades only to come back and find it everything he was fighting to keep away. He never set out to murder and so it is understandable why he is seen as a hero in folk lore. However, i am not sure that just because he gave what he stole to the poor, he should be seen as a hero. In the stories the people he stole from are seen as greedy undeserving people but this we do not know for sure. surely these stories will be biased towards Robin Hood because he was Such a prominant idol for the people of that time. Rich people do not deserve to be stolen from just because not everyone is as wealthy as them. If they do not wish to give to those who do not have anything it is their choice no matter how selfish we think they are.

Infidelity

In my opinion, there is no excuse for infidelity. People who will go behind the back of a person who loves them and is willing to devote the rest of their life to them, are dispicable. If a person can think of enough reason to cheat on their partner, then they shouldn't be with them at all. Alot of infidelity is based on bordem within the relationship, in my opinion, and rather than talking about it, they act on it in the most unacceptable way possible. There is no way that anyone can come out of an affair unscathed, especially when there are children involved. anybody who has been on the recieving end of an affair has their whole world blown apart and they often find it very difficult to trust again. Anyone who would willingly do this to a person doesn't deserve anyone. The pain and surprise is just as bad for people who find out that their parter is infact married and they are just the 'bit on the side.' I have never been uinfaithful to any of my partners and i never will be and if anyone was unfaithful to me they would be out of my life straight away.

Masturbation

I wasn't sure what to expect from this lecture and let me tell you, it took me by complete surprise. The subject matter caused a stir even before the lecture began and everybody was questioning how much could be taught on this topic. Once the lecture began i found it quite difficult because although it is something everyone does, and nothing to be ashamed about, it is also something very personal and so to sit for three hours studying it was quite surreal. I spent most of the time unable to look anybody in the eye. im not sure whether thats more to do with my age as it is more accepted and talked about now than when i was young. The lecture focussed on whether masturbation is a good or bad thing and as i have said before, i do not think there is anything wrong with it, as it is something almost everyone does at least once in there life. (more like once a day for some..) It didn't draw me to any conclusions that i had not already come to myself but still provided me with a whole new angle on the subject.

Smoking

In my whole life i have never been tempted to try a cigarette. The reason being, the thought of breathing smoke into my lungs scares me. I find it hard to understand that some people do this to fit in, it is a major step to get people to like you when really, if this is what you have to do then they aren't worth knowing. At least that's what i tell my children who range from 15 to 21. However, if they choose to smoke i will loose no respect for them as it is their decision to make. i feel that it is made to look far more glamorous than it is as shown in the above picture.

Children these days are starting to smoke younger and younger and although people tell us what a big problem it is, and how it needs to be stopped, the people who have the power to save ouir childrens lives do not seem to want to do anything that will compramise the amount of money made from this business.
if i were to list the pro's and cons based on my opinion and knowledge of smoking im sure they would be very different to those of a smoker or a scientist or even another non-smoker. At the end of the day it is a very contraversial subject that can only be decided on by each individual person, not by the opinions of those around them.